No. 6 Virginia Routs Wm. & Mary; Swan, Bocklet Net Four Each

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (March 12, 2014) -- Squaring off against a top-10 team for the third time in its opening five games, William & Mary fell to No. 6 Virginia, 22-9, at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field on a rain-soaked Wednesday evening.

W&M (1-4) was in striking distance at halftime and trailed just 9-5, but the Cavaliers (3-4) opened the second stanza with a 13-2 run to pull away for the victory.

The College held a 16-13 advantage in ground balls, but UVA outshot W&M, 39-20, and owned a 20-13 margin in draw controls.

Seven different Tribe players combined to score the team's nine goals, as junior Ellen Shaffrey totaled three points (2g, 1a) and senior Taelor Salmon found the back of the cage twice. Senior Jenna Dougherty (1g, 1a) and junior Kaleigh Noon (1g, 1a) also contributed two points apiece, while Dougherty added a team-high three draw controls.

The College opened the contest well and tallied the first two goals in the opening 1:34, as junior Amanda Johnson and sophomore Zoe Boger both recorded scores. Johnson's goal came on a free position opportunity just 33 seconds into the game, while Boger found the back of the cage with an unassisted score a minute later.

Although UVA answered with a pair of goals, the Tribe reclaimed the lead on a score by Salmon with 23:17 showing. However, as a steady rain began to descend on Albert-Daly Field, the Cavaliers closed the opening half on a 7-2 run to build a 9-5 lead at the break.

A goal by Shaffrey off an assist from Noon with 21:30 remaining ended a 4-0 spurt by Virginia to open the second half, but the Cavaliers then rattled off a 9-1 run during the next 20 minutes to add to its lead.

W&M scored twice in the final minute with goals by Noon and Dougherty but were unable to get any closer than the final margin.

"We are excited by the outcome of today's game," said Virginia head coach Julie Myers. "William & Mary certainly started strong and really challenged us to make some big plays and to dig deep to come out on top. All in all, I was excited by our energy, how fast we played, how many people played and how many were able to contribute to a pretty important win at this time of the season."

Virginia held a 9-5 advantage at halftime but outscored William & Mary 13-4 in the second half, with the Tribe scoring two of those goals in the final minute of the game.

Junior Courtney Swan (Vero Beach, Fla.) tallied eight points with four goals and four assists, while also winning seven draw controls. Junior Casey Bocklet (South Salem, N.Y.) also scored four goals with a pair of assists. Junior Morgan Stephens (Olney, Md.) scored a hat trick, also adding an assist, two draw controls, two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

The Tribe got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Stephens scored back-to-back goals to tie the game, 2-2, with just under 26 minutes left in the first half. After William & Mary retook the lead on Salmon's first goal, Virginia scored five straight goals, including the first career goal for freshman Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) to take a 7-3 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first half. Stephens scored her third goal of the period with 45 seconds remaining to send UVa into the break with a 9-5 lead.